As library staff working in Higher Education (HE) we are continually involved in teaching The generic term for what librarians teach is Information Literacy (IL) IL is recognized as a critical life skill allied to digital literacy enabling learners to find, use and manage information as teachers, librarians offer interventions embedded in discipline modules, co-teach with academics, solo teach to prescribed learning outcomes and offer e-learning programmes via VLEs

IL is a significant aspect of the work of Irish librarians as suggested by the number of research articles produced (O’Brien and Cronin 2016) Other literature also recognizes the deepening role of Librarians as teachers (McKinney and Wheeler 2015). Furthermore the literature suggests that while in practice librarians are teaching, their “acquisition and application of pedagogical knowledge” (Bewick and Corrall 2010) remains under-researched We suspect that librarians operate without a Professional Development (PD) framework that supports their practice and evolving role as teachers in HE We are interested in discovering if the Professional Development Framework for All Staff Who Teach in Higher Education (September 2016) and that suggested in the Digital Badges project (All Aboard Project 2016) will help librarians who teach by creating a sustainable PD process.

It is proposed that by carrying out primary and secondary research, findings will emerge to inform existing policy and also create key recommendations to enhance the current PD practice of librarians in HE This research will involve key stakeholders such as library staff, academic colleagues, students, professional associations, academic providers of Library and Information Science education and colleagues from our respective Centres for Teaching and Learning All findings and ensuing recommendations will be publicly shared with wider bodies such as professional associations, educational providers and to colleagues across the HE sector, including Consortium of National and University Libraries (CONUL) to extend the benefits